The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
The typical home includes access to a wide area network through a modem and router. A typical home also includes access to television programming through satellite or cable systems. Satellite television providers continually provide increasing amounts of content. Some content is available through the satellite, while other types of content are provided through a wide area network under control of the satellite provider. The wide area network includes the internet. Content based providers also provide content to consumers directly through the wide area network. The content from the internet based provider is handled through the modem and router. The satellite system typically includes a plurality of set top boxes for receiving content. The set top boxes are a separate system from the internet-based content providers. Consumers must provide the means for obtaining access through the satellite or cable system as well as the router and modem. This increases the cost of obtaining content for a consumer. The only interaction with such system is when a set top box communicates through the local area network and through the wide area network to obtain or communicate information therethrough. Operationally, however, these systems are entirely separate. Consequently, the consumer has a potential to have multiple points of failure for the entire content set up.
Because the television system and wide area network or internet system are separate, performance through the local area network to the wide area network is not controlled. The degradation of service may be evident in such instances. The amount of devices that access video content and other wide area network or internet content is increasing. Providing reliable access to all types of content, regardless of the source, is a desirable goal for content providers.